Seoul, S'pore top Asia's rebounders

Tokyo techs, Hong Kong financials lead their markets

By

BillClifford

VivianChu

TOKYO (CBS.MW) - Asia-Pacific stock markets rallied Wednesday on the back of strong U.S. market gains, with Tokyo and Hong Kong gaining more than 2 percent and Seoul surging 6.7 percent. Singapore's key index jumped over 3 percent on news that a U.S. electronics parts-maker will buy local counterpart NatSteel.

Taiwan stocks missed out on the bargain-hunting party, however. Opposition politicians beating the drums for President Chen Shui-bian's ouster served to beat down the Weighted Index, which is poised for its worst year since 1990.

Japanese heavyweights Sony and NTT DoCoMo rebounded sharply and helped lift the Nikkei Average up 2.29 percent, or 332.79 points, to close at 14,872.39. The broader, capital-weighted TOPIX index rose 2.39 percent to 1,412.99.

Disappointing earnings had sliced 16 percent off Sony's share price
SNE, -0.02%
over the previous four sessions, but the electronics giant caught the breeze from Nasdaq overnight to snap back 6.1 percent to 9,250 yen.

Volume leader Nissan Motor
NSANY, -0.58%
whose return to profit prompted double-digit percentage gains this week, took a breather. The carmaker's stock closed down 2.9 percent at 727 yen. Daiwa Institute of Research upgraded Nissan to "A" from "B," signaling it thinks the stock will outperform TOPIX by 10 percentage points over the next six months.

Back in the tech sector, mobile phone specialist NTT DoCoMo
NTDMY
rebounded 8.6 percent to 2.92 million yen a share.

Pohang Iron and Steel (POSCO) hammered out an 8.2 percent gain to 71,500 after its chairman Yoo Sang-boo said the steelmaker
PKX, +0.84%
would hold off making a further investment in Powercomm, the cable network operator majority-owned by Korea Electric Power. See story. KEPCO
KEP, -2.72%
shares rose 2 percent to 25,900 won.

Singapore's Straits Times Index closed up 3.21 percent to 2,040.01, boosted by a whopping 64.5 percent surge in shares of Natsteel Electronics
NATEY
which ended at 7.50 Singapore dollars. On Tuesday, electronics parts-maker Solectron Corp.
SLR, -3.51%
said it will buy the Singaporean company at a premium in one of the industry's biggest-ever purchases. See full story.

Malaysia's KLSE Composite index gained 0.77 percent to 758.12.

The dollar edged down against the yen and was trading recently at 108.78 yen, compared with 109.00 yen late Tuesday in New York. It changed hands at 108.80 yen late Tuesday in Tokyo.

Intraday Data provided by SIX Financial Information and subject to terms of use. Historical and current end-of-day data provided by SIX Financial Information. All quotes are in local exchange time. Real-time last sale data for U.S. stock quotes reflect trades reported through Nasdaq only. Intraday data delayed at least 15 minutes or per exchange requirements.